Duct-control mechanism for grain-driers.



P. R. MORRIS.

DUCT CONTROL MECHANISM FOR GRAIN DRIERS,

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 19, 1912.

Patented Sept. 9, 1913.

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E'. R. MORRIS. DUCT CONTROL MEGHANISM FOR GRAIN DRIERS.

APPLIoATloN FILED Nov. 19. 1912. Y

1,072,762. Y 'Patented sept.9,1913.

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WHA/55555 /NVENTOR /h/O Atlarwey FULTON R. MORRIS, 0F MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO GRAIN DRIER COMPANY, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION 0F WISCONSIN.

To aZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, FULTON R. MORRIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Duct-Control Mech-y anism for Grain-Driers, of which'the follow-y ing is a specification.

The present invention relates to duct control mechanism for grain driers of the character described in the copending applicationy for Letters Patent filed by me on November 19, 1912, and bearing Serial Number 732,356.

Driers of this class include a suitable chamber to contain the grain to be acted upon, through which chamber extends, transversely, ducts, pervious to fluid, so `that air of the desired temperature may be agitated to filter through thel grain removing excess moisture therefrom.

The principal object of the invention'is toA provide simple mechanism for controlling the ingress and egress of these ducts, so that the air currents find ingress to the chamber through certain of the ducts, and the moisture laden air, egress through certain other of the ducts, so that the air must pass through the body of grain in the chamber,

such mechanism being capable of actuation to simultaneously adapt the ducts, previously serving for ingress of air, for egress thereof, and those previously serving for egressof air, as ingress ducts. By this arrangement the grain may be thoroughly and uniformly dried, and the mechanism accomplishing this object is inexpensive to manufacture, efficient in action, easily ina' nipulated, and susceptible of ready repair.

Other objects of the invention will appear in the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and in which drawings: j

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a drier, the ducts of which are controlled by mechanism constructed according to the invention, a

, part of the air distributing chamber being broken away to disclose details. Fig. 2 is a sectional view on t-lie line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the'line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings, where similar characters Specication of`Letter's Patent.

DUCT-CONTROL MaciiANifsi/i Forv GRAIN DR1ERS. I

walls, each having a plurality of apertures' 5.V About one wall i is provided an air disratmtea sept. 9,1913.y Application filed November 19, 1912'. Serial No. 732,357. i i v tributing chamber B, to which air, at the desired temperature, is fed, as through way,y

C, and in any suitable manner, such as de V scribed inthe aforesaid copen'dingapplication. l

Openf at the apertures 5`and extending transversely-through chamber A, are ducts each duct being open to one aperturev in each wall. These ducts arepervious to fluid,

such as air, but prevent the grain, whichisL -dropped into the said chamber, from find'- ing egress therefrom lthrough theyy said apertures As to the preferred.construc-v tion of these ducts, reference may` be had to Letters Patent 1,028,899, granted on anapv plication filed by me, although any form of construction of ducts may be provided, with-` out departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention, consistent with the desideratum,-that the body of grain'be accessible for entrance or egress of air from f walls of said ducts. v

Exterially of the wall 4 are provided upright guidesways 7, such as by disposing angle bars 8, preferably in parallelism, laterally in spaced apart relation to such wall, as by spacers 9. The guide-ways 7 receive port-ions of shutters 10, which latter are held in spaced apart relation to each other as by upright angle bars 11 and 12,

riveted or otherwise secured to the shutters.

The bars 11 may abut with flanges against the ianges of bars 8, which latter then serve ,as tracks for guiding or preventing the shutters from end-wise movement, asis obvious from an inspection of Fig. 1V of the drawing. Y y

The several ducts are preferably arranged in tiers, or in other'words, the apertures 5 are preferably alined longitudinally of the shutters l0, so that one end of eachalternate tier of ductsis open at one side of .Y

each wall 4, the shutters being in spaced apart relation to each other so that the other duct openings on the said sidey are closed. 'The same vcondition exists other wall of the chamber. Y Nom-in `order to provide novel means at the transversely through'the ychamber A,*pref erably having bearings in the walls a thereof, and preferably ydisposed substantially midway between the sides of said chamber; two gears 14, one adjacent the exterior of each wall l; a rack 15 for coaction with ways 7. The racks 15 Amay be riveted. or otherwise secured to the bars 12, and itis to be noted that, by disposingthe racks to engage withtheir respective gears at opposite i sides of theshaft 13, uponcircumferential movement of these gears, the shutters `10, at both walls, are moved in counter directions. Furthermore, by disposing the shaft 13 substantially midway between the sidewalls of the chamber A, or, in vother words, substantially midway between the ends of the shutters 10, the application of a force to move the shutters is closely adjacentthe axis of symmetry of the shutter structures, and hence, the same may be easily actuated by movement of the shaft 13, To facilitate rotation of the shaft 13, it-may carry a sprocket wheel 16 about which Ais trained a sprocket chain 17. The latter may have movement imparted thereto in any suitable manner, so that'the shaft 13 may be easily rotated. Itis to be further noted that either the bars 11er 12, or both, may be of such length, dependingV below the lowermost shutter 10, as to limit movement of the racks 1 4, when the lowermost tier of ducts have been successively closed at either wall 4 of chamber A.

The operation ofthe mechanism is as follows: Grain is fed, as by gravity, into chamber A, either to accumulate therein or to merely pass through the same, as may` be desired, the procedure being determined as to whether or not the grain contains a considerable amount of moisture. Air at Y the desired temperature is conveyed through way C and distributing chamber B, finding ingress to the chamber A, through the apertures 5, in the wall 4 about which said chamber B is disposed, which are notthrottled by shutters'10,`an d into ducts 6. Inasmuch as the other openings of the ducts through which the air enters the chamber are closed, the air must filter through the body of grain about these ducts, and find egress from the chamber A through the openings in the wall opposite from that of ingress, and through ducts other than that in which it enters.

It isto be noted that the grain may accumulate entirely about the ducts 6 so that the maximum degree of heat, of the air, is utilized for drying purposes, and not absorbed, to any material extent, by the walls of the ducts. Furthermore, the grainV is uniformly dried because of the ability of the air to be diffused in all directions through the body ofY grain. By merely rotating shaft 13, the ingress of air to the chamber A maybe provided through the duct openings previously throttled, and hence, the

air will find different paths through the grain, than that previously followed. Thus the eiiiciency of t-he apparatus for uniformly drying the grain is augmented.

1t is to be noted that little effort is required to move the shutters in counter directions, to effect this change, and that few parts are essential to make up the duct control mechanism.

i Changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention; but,

1 claim 1. `The combination with a drier includa chamber having oppositely disposed walls and ducts, pervious to fluid, passing transversely through the chamber and open at the outer faces of the said walls, of a shutter structure at the outer face of each of the said walls and adapted to cover the openings of'certain of said ducts, the shutiter structure at one wall being arranged relative to the shutter structure at the other wall, so that each duct has but one opening throttled by such shutter structures, a shaft yextending transversely of the said walls of said chamber, and mechanism operable from said shaft and operatively connected with said shutter structures to simultaneously actuate the same to throttle openings of said ducts previously unthrottled, Aand to unythrottle the said openings of said ducts previously throttled. 2. The combination with a drier including a chamber having oppositely disposed walls and ducts, pervious to Huid, passing transversely through the chamber and open at the outer faces of the said walls, of a shutter structure at the outer face of each of the said walls and adapted to cover the openings of certain of said ducts, the shutter structure at one wall being arranged relative to the shutter structure atvthe other wall, so that each duct has but one opening throttled by such shutter structures, a shaft extending transversely through said chamber substantially midway between the end margins of said shutter structures, and mechanism operable from said shaft and operatively connected with said shutter structures to simultaneously actuate the same to throttle the openings of said ducts previously unthrottled, and to unthrottle the said openings of said ducts previously7 throttled.

Wall, so thateach duct has but one openingl throttled by such shutter structure, a shaft extending transversely through said chamber, and mechanism operable from said shaft and operatively connected With said shutter structures to simultaneously actuate the same in counter directions, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. Thecombination with a'drier including a chamber having oppositelydisposed Walls and ducts, pervious to fluid, passing transversely through the chamber and open at the outer faces of the said Walls, of symmetrical shutter structures at the outer faces of each of said Walls and adapted to cover the openings of certain of the said ducts, the shutterk structure at one Wall being arranged yrelative to the shutter structure at the other Wall, so that each duct has but oneopening throttled by such shutter structures, `and' mechanism operatively connected With said shutter structures adjacentthe axes of symmetry thereof, to simultaneously actuate the same to throttle the openings of said ducts previously unthrottled, and to unthrottle the said openings of said ducts previously throttled.

5. The combination With a drier including a chamber having oppositely disposed Walls f and ducts pervious to fluid, passing transversely through the chamber and open at the outer faces of the said Walls, of symmetrical shutter structures at the outer faces of each of said Walls and adapted to cover the openings of certain of the said ducts, the shutter structure at one Wallbeing arranged relative to the shutter structure at the other Wall, so that each duct has but one opening throttled by such shutter structure, and mechanism operatively connected with said shutter structures adjacent the aXes of symmetry thereof, to simultaneously actuate the same in counter directions, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. The combination with a drier including a chamber having oppositely disposed Walls and ducts, pervious to fluid, passing transversely through the chamber and open at the outer faces of the said Walls, of a shutter structure at the outer face of each of said Walls and adapted to `cover the openings of certain of the said ducts, the shutter structure at one Wall being arranged rela tive to the shutter structure at the other Wall, so that each duct has but one opening throttled bysuch shutter structures, a shaft extending transversely of the said chamber, two gears on said shaft, one adjacent each of the' said Walls, and two racks operatively connected With said shutter structures and comeshing with said gears, said racks being disposed With respect to each other at opposite sides of said shaft to simultaneously actuate said shutter structures in counter directions upon circumferential movement of said shaft, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. v

7. Thecombination With a drier including a chamber having oppositely disposed Walls and ducts, pervious to '.fiuid, passing transversely through the chamber and open at the outer faces of the said Walls, of a yshutter structure at the outer face of each of said Walls and adaptedk to cover the openings of certain of the said ducts, the shutter structure at one Wall being arranged relative to the shutter structure at the other Wall, so that each duct has but one opening throttled by such shutter structures, a shaft extending transversely ofthe said chamber, two gears on said shaft, one adjacent each of the said Walls, tWo reciprocable racks operatively connected with said shutter structures, one for each, and comeshing with said gears, said racks being disposed With respect to each other at opposite sides of the said shaft to simultaneously actuate said shutter structures in counter directions upon circumferential movement of said shaft, and means for limiting the amplitude of reciprocation of said racks, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

8. The combination With a drier including a chamber having oppositely disposed lvvalls and ducts, perviousto Huid, passing transversely through said chamber and open at the outer faces of the said Walls, of parallel bars providing guide-Ways laterally of the said Walls of said chamber at the exterior thereof, shutters movable in the said guide-` vvays, bars connecting the shutters of each side, in spaced apart relation to each other to move in unison, said second-mentioned bars abutting against said first-mentioned bars to prevent end-Wise movement of said shutters, and said shutters being disposed so that each duct has but one opening throttled thereby, and means for actuating said shutters, to throttle the openings of said ducts previously unthrottled, and to unthrottle the openings of the said ducts previously throttled. i

9. The combination With a drier including a chamber having oppositely disposed Walls and ducts, pervious to fluid, passing transversely through the chamber and open at the outer faces of the said Walls, of a shutter at the outer face of each of said Walls and adapted to cover the openings of certain of said ducts, the shutter at one Wall being l:irthe openings of said ducts previously unranged relative to the shutter at the other throttled, and to unthro-ttle said openings of Wall, so that each duet has but one opening said ducts previousl7 throttlecl. y

throttlecl by such shutters, and mechanism f FULTON R. MORRIS.

operatively connected with said shutters ad- Witnesses: jacent the axes of symmetry thereof, torsi- M; E. JONES, Jr.,

multa-neously aetuate the saine to throttle. LOTTIE W. CLOUGH; Y

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the ccmmissioer of Patents.

' Y Washington, D. c. 

